


Two Feet Apart

by evanderblake



Series: Egobang [11]
Category: Game Grumps, Polygrumps - Fandom, Shipgrumps - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, M/M, Mutual Pining, Polygrumps, ShipGrumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 20:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16047683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanderblake/pseuds/evanderblake
Summary: Dan realizes he's caught some feelings, and he's not sure how to deal with them.





	Two Feet Apart

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to @game-of-grump on Tumblr! Thank you so much!

It started… hell, at least a year ago. 

It wasn’t anything big at first. He would just notice things he hadn’t really before.

And what made him doubt it was the fact that it didn’t feel like any other crush he’d had. With other girls it felt immediate, like a bullet to the head or a slap to the face; it didn’t take long for him to process his feelings, they were just there.

With Arin… it didn’t feel like anything he’d ever experienced. It was like opening your eyes one day and realizing you finally had everything you’d ever wanted. Like looking into the eyes of your best friend and realizing that it will never get better than this. And Dan hadn’t caught his feelings running rampant until they were truly out of control. 

Most Grump sessions started and ended with Dan clinging to Arin’s arm, snuggling up against him as the younger man played games. Each time he would grow frustrated or angry, Dan would snuggle closer and tighten his grip around Arin’s arm, and he would calm down. It was like magic, and it made him feel warm.

The magic didn’t last forever, though. 

It wasn’t long before things started to hurt, before he started realizing that what he was doing was wrong. After all, Arin was married; it wasn’t fair to either Arin or Suzy for Dan to use him like this. And when Dan realized that, suddenly Grump sessions were spent two feet apart, Dan using blankets and pillows as a substitute for Arin’s warmth and comfort. Eventually, Dan began lacking the motivation to record songs for their new album, to write songs at all, or even to show up to Grump sessions.

He lied to everyone, saying he was growing ill, and Arin told him to take a couple days off to rest. Dan wasn’t sure whether he was thankful or brokenhearted by that, but he stayed home regardless. Curled up under three blankets, surrounded by ten pillows, drinking tea and sparkling water while marathoning Lord of the Rings and hoping that his feelings would mellow out or dissipate entirely. Occasionally his phone would buzz, he would have texts from Arin or Suzy or Brian asking about his well-being, asking if he’d be returning to work the next day. He would ignore them and burrow deeper into his mountain of comfort. 

It was on the third day that he realized something was wrong. Not that he was getting sick, but that he was falling into a depression spell. Maybe he had been there for a while already, but he hadn’t realized anything was different. He woke up on the couch at three in the morning, reaching for his cell phone which had fallen onto the floor and finding he had missed six calls from various friends, and ignored over thirty different texts and messages.

He didn’t even bother responding. How could he? How could he lie to his friends about anything? How could he say he was okay, that he was going to be coming back to work? Well, the short answer was that he couldn’t. So he kept ignoring the messages. 

After unburying himself from the mound of comfort he was beneath, he made his way to the kitchen, drinking a sip of water before hearing his stomach growl in protest. When was the last time he’d eaten? When was the last time he’d done… anything?

He forced himself to climb up the stairs and get in the shower. He at least needed to take care of himself to some minimal level, and showering was something he could handle. He turned the water on just a bit too hot and let the shower scald his skin. He barely even felt it. 

This was really getting out of hand. He wasn’t even sure why he was feeling this way; it wasn’t like they had been dating or anything. Arin didn’t belong to Dan, he was Suzy’s husband. This was stupid… but that thought didn’t change anything. He could tell himself all he wanted that this whole situation was stupid, but that wasn’t going to change his feelings, his state of mind. He was still stuck. 

He got out of the shower, feeling refreshed but still lacking the energy he needed to work through the day, and dressed in loose-fitting pajama pants and a long-sleeve black t-shirt, pulling his hair back into a ponytail and putting his glasses on because it was easier than fiddling with his contacts. 

He idly strolled back to his kitchen, searching through his refrigerator and finding that… he really needed to go grocery shopping. 

Was anything even open this late? Or… this early?

Arin sent another text. This one actually surprised him because Arin usually doesn’t wake up until ten or later.

_ARIN [4:39 A.M.]  
I’m coming over at seven regardless of whether you’re awake or not. And I’m bringing food._

_DANNY [4:42 A.M.]  
I’ve been up since 3. Come whenever you want because I don’t think I’ll be sleeping again any time soon._

_ARIN [4:46 A.M.]  
See you soon, then!_

Dan tried to organize his house to some degree. There wasn’t a whole lot to pick up, just blankets and pillows mostly. He had to take care of some cups half-filled with tea or water, put away some DVD cases… He realized he hadn’t done much living in his living room. 

It wasn’t long before Arin was walking through his front door; he didn’t bother knocking anymore because, well, why would he? They practically live together, they work together, they go everywhere together, so it just made sense that formalities like knocking on the front door were rather… unnecessary. 

And then they were facing each other for the first time in days. Arin’s hair was down, flowing just below his shoulders, he was wearing a black shirt and his new pink shorts Suzy had helped him pick out.

Dan’s heart beat wildly just at the sight of him. It made his chest hurt.

“Hey,” Arin finally said with a breathless smile. 

“Hi,” Dan replied, trying his best to smile back but finding he didn’t have the energy for something as simply as that.

Arin began walking forward, and Dan suddenly noticed the canvas bag hanging from Arin’s elbow. His stomach growled involuntarily, and he covered his belly with his hands, somewhat embarrassed. 

Arin just kept on smiling. “When was the last time you ate, dude?”

Dan shrugged, but didn’t give an actual answer. 

Arin made his way to Dan’s kitchen and started mixing pancake batter, keeping an eye on Dan as he did so. It wasn’t often that he saw Arin like this, the strange mixture of happiness and anxiousness. It was almost comforting to know that he was worried about him. 

“How have you been feeling? Are you still sick or do you think you’ll be coming back into the office soon?” Arin asked as he poured some vanilla into the bowl.

Dan was quiet for a moment, debating what he was going to say. Was he actually going to lie to Arin? He made it his business to be an honest man, but… this wasn’t easy to be honest about. As much as he wanted to confess, to get this whole thing off his chest, was he really willing to potentially ruin a friendship like that? To maybe even ruin Arin and Suzy’s relationship? It felt selfish.

But what other choice did he have?

“I… I’m not sure when I’ll be back,” Dan spoke slowly, thinking critically before speaking. 

Arin’s shoulders sank just a bit. “Oh… you’re still sick then?”

“Something like that.”

“Dan,” Arin said as he turned around to face him full-on. “What’s _actually_ wrong? I know you’re not sick. I’ve seen you when you’re sick enough to know that this isn’t… sick-Dan.”

Damn Arin for knowing him so well. 

Dan moved closer to Arin, drooping his head so that he could avoid eye contact. He silently noted the fact that this situation, this confession… was harder than any other confession he had experienced. Was that because Arin was a guy? Maybe because they had been friends for so long? Never in his life had Dan experienced anything like this, like this intense heartache and sorrow he felt from the mere attraction to his friend.

And he finally took a deep breath, looking Arin right in the eye with whatever shreds of confidence he could muster up.

And that’s when Arin leaned forward to kiss him.

It… wasn’t what he had expected.

Well, of course he didn’t expect Arin to kiss him, but he also didn’t expect their kiss to feel so… juvenile. Like the first time you kiss someone when you’re just a kid, and you purse your lips to peck someone on the cheek. There was nothing passionate about it, nothing spectacular or special or extraordinary compared to other kisses Dan had experienced.

And yet at the same time, it was more extraordinary than anything he had ever felt.

The kiss didn’t last long, Arin pulling back before things could move forward. Every hair on Dan’s body was standing on edge, his eyes wide with disbelief and cheeks tinted pink. 

“I’m not an idiot Dan,” Arin whispered, smiling as he said Dan’s name. “But I’m pretty dumb because Suzy was the one that figured out you liked me.”

“S-Suzy?” Dan stuttered, cursing his tongue for not wanting to work properly.

Arin stifled a laugh. “She knew the minute you started using pillows and blankets instead of snuggling with me during our sessions. And she knew that your ‘sickness’ was really just you feeling confused.” He paused for a minute, reaching to grab Dan’s hands. “We had a long talk about you, about how she always knew that we - you and me - would make a great couple. And how she knows that I still love her, but she knows that I love you too. So I guess I’m trying to say that… whatever you were worried about? About coming between me and her? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

By the end of Arin’s little monologue, Dan found himself smiling from ear-to-ear. He couldn’t even find it in himself to be surprised that Suzy had figured out his feelings before Arin, or that she had been totally cool with the whole thing. It was just like her. He would have to remember to thank her later on for all of this. 

“So…” Arin started, interrupting Dan’s thinking. “Do you wanna help me with this pancakes and then maybe we could… watch a movie?”

Dan sighed, “I’m gonna be real honest here: I’ve watched all of Lord of the Rings, and all of Star Wars in the past few days and I’m getting tired of sitting on my ass watching movies.”

Arin let Dan’s hands go only to wrap his hands around his waist. “Maybe we can do something else then? We could go back to bed.”

Dan blushed even harder. “‘We?’”

Arin nodded, and Dan beamed as he pulled the younger man in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: friendevan
> 
> Do you like this fic? Head on over to my Tumblr to make a request!


End file.
